Newly published article which asks a question which has wandered around my head for years. It seems improbable that goitre is solely caused by lack of iodine. Few other things are anything like that simple, so why should this be trivial?
Hopefully, we will eventually see the author's answer.
IS ENDEMIC GOITER DUE TO A LACK OF IODINE?
ISIDOR GREENWALD
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology, Volume 6, Issue 11, 1 November 1946, Pages 708–741,
Published: 01 November 1946
INTRODUCTION
THE author (36) has recently presented evidence indicating that goiter did not exist in the Americas or in New Zealand before the coming of white men nor in England before the eighteenth century. Moreover, the temporal variations in the incidence of goiter at various places in North America, and elsewhere, seem inconsistent with the view that lack of iodine in food, or water, or both, is the only, or even the chief, cause of goiter (36).
These findings have prompted a re-examination of the evidence upon which that hypothesis rests. The results have been startling and appear to be of sufficient importance to warrant publication.
The hypothesis that endemic goiter is due to a lack of iodine seems to have been first presented by Prevost (79), apparently without any evidence in its support other than the successful use of iodine and, before the discovery of the element, of burnt sponge, in the treatment of goiter by a number of physicians. Shortly thereafter, Chatin (17) presented the results of a large number of analyses of water, air and foods in a series of reports, mostly between 1850 and 1860.
academic.oup.com/jcem/artic...
A previous post regarding goitres:
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Faith, sir, you need not fear. When we were boys, Who would believe that there were mountaineers Dewlapped like bulls, whose throats had hanging at 'em Wallets of flesh, or that there were such menWhose heads stood in their breasts?—which now we find Each putter-out of five for one will bring us Good warrant of.
The Tempest - Act 3, Scene 3
Image is a rather tongue in cheek photo of Pant-y-Goitre Bridge llanovercommunitycouncil.or...